Refrigerated display cases are used in liquor stores, convenience stores, food vending establishments, and other facilities to keep food and beverage products cold, thereby to keep them fresh and/or to maintain them at desired cold consumable temperatures, or for some display cases to keep the products frozen. The products can be accessed by customers by sliding or pivoting the case doors open. The doors typically have transparent windows allowing customers to view the stored products before opening the doors to help the customers quickly determine whether the desired product is in the case before opening the door. This not only makes it easier for the customer but also reduces the frequency and length of time that the door is open and prevents ambient heat being transferred into the refrigerated display case.
The refrigerated display case doors can have mechanical key-actuated locks to individually lock each of the doors when the facility is closed to the public to prevent theft from the cases. Also, some or all of the doors in the cases in the facility can be locked when the facility is open to prevent customer access to the products in those specific cases. For example, in some areas of the country, beer, wine and other cold alcoholic beverages cannot be sold on certain days or at certain times of the day without violating local laws. In those jurisdictions, proprietors of facilities (such as convenience stores) where beer, wine and the like are sold from refrigerated display cases may voluntarily or may be required to lock the doors of their refrigerated display cases which contain such products when their facilities are open to the public to sell other products during those days and at those times. They do so using the above-mentioned individual key locks for each of the doors.